News

Microsoft To End Windows 9x Support in July

This time, there will be no more temporary reprieves. Microsoft has begun warning users of Windows 98, 98 Second Edition and Windows Millennium Edition that the end is near -- for all technical support, at least.

Although the company has been urging corporate customers for some time to replace those aging systems, it has stepped up its efforts recently and is now telling them they should migrate to Windows XP as soon as possible, according to BetaNews, an online news site for beta testers.

Microsoft currently plans to cut off all paid support, including security patches, for all three systems on July 11, 2006. The cutoff was already extended once from January 2004 in order to give customers more time to migrate off those systems.

"Microsoft is ending support for these products because they are outdated and…can expose customers to security risks. We recommend that customers who are still running Windows 98 or Windows ME upgrade to a newer, more secure Microsoft operating system, such as Windows XP, as soon as possible," says a statement on Microsoft's site.

The company had obviously hoped that those customers rotating out older systems running Win98/SE/ME would be able to replace them by simply purchasing new PCs preloaded with Windows Vista. However, with Vista's delivery on new PCs delayed until the first quarter of next year, corporate customers will have to settle for XP-based PCs and upgrade them to Vista when it becomes available to them in November.

Online self-help support will be available at the Microsoft Support Web site until at least July 11, 2007, the company's statement said.

About the Author

Stuart J. Johnston has covered technology, especially Microsoft, since February 1988 for InfoWorld, Computerworld, Information Week, and PC World, as well as for Enterprise Developer, XML & Web Services, and .NET magazines.

Featured

  • Microsoft Appoints Althoff as New CEO for Commercial Business

    Microsoft CEO and chairman Satya Nadella on Wednesday announced the promotion of Judson Althoff to CEO of the company's commercial business, presenting the move as a response to the dramatic industrywide shifts caused by AI.

  • Broadcom Revamps VMware Partner Program Again

    Broadcom recently announced a significant update regarding its VMware Cloud Service Provider (VCSP) program, coinciding with the release of VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 9.0, a key component in Broadcom’s private cloud strategy.

  • Closeup of the new Copilot keyboard key

    Microsoft Updates Copilot To Add Context-Sensitive Agents to Teams, SharePoint

    Microsoft has rolled out a new public preview for collaborative "always on" agents in Microsoft 365 Copilot, bringing enhanced, context-aware tools into Teams channels, meetings, SharePoint sites, Planner workstreams and Viva Engage communities.

  • Windows 365 Cloud Apps Now Available for Public Preview

    Microsoft announced this week that Windows 365 Cloud Apps are now available for public preview. This aims to allow IT administrators to stream individual Windows applications from the cloud, removing the need to assign Cloud PCs to every user.